Titan: October 2020

Catherine Neish is counting the days until her space launch. While the Western planetary geologist isn't space-suiting up for her own interstellar voyage, she is playing a key role in an international mission -- dispatching a robotic drone to Saturn's moon Titan -- set to blast-off in 2027.

The photochemical haze produced in the upper atmosphere of Titan plays a key role in various atmospheric and surface processes on Titan.

NASA scientists identified a molecule in Titan's atmosphere that has never been detected in any other atmosphere. In fact, many chemists have probably barely heard of it or know how to pronounce it: cyclopropenylidene, or C₃H₂.

We report the first detection on Titan of the small cyclic molecule cyclopropenylidene (c-C₃H₂) from high sensitivity spectroscopic observations made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA).

Titan harbors a dense, organic-rich atmosphere primarily composed of N₂ and CH₄ , with lesser amounts of hydrocarbons and nitrogen-bearing species.

Catherine Neish is counting the days until her space launch. While the Western planetary geologist isn't space-suiting up for her own interstellar voyage, she is playing a key role in an international mission - dispatching a robotic drone to Saturn's moon Titan - set to blast-off in 2027.